Finally, let’s get started fantasizing our fantoasts for the day. What is Fantoast? Visit this link and have a run through of the different toasts that this place has to offer. Ohh, in case you are wondering, I paid this café multiple visits. No matter how much I am into these darlings, my body can only take so much in a day.
For our “box” series, let’s start with something familiar to both the west and the oriental taste buds which is the Banana Chocolate Fortress. Woah, sounds intimidating already.
Visual: Reminds me of a castle that is under siege wherein the bananas serve as a shield or perhaps, a catapult is also fitting. The chocolate squares are like flag banners or blades that prevent enemy climbers from penetrating the defenses. The white cream acts as a trap for intruders…just when they think they already reached the top, guess again, only for them to slide down towards their death.
Taste: Perfect Balance of sweetness across the different parts. The chocolate syrup drizzled on the banana is not actually sweet but just enough to give the fruit a chocolate taste. The ice cream’s vanilla flavor was further highlighted as it is not sweet. It is as its name implies: ice cream and not sweet ice cream as most of the ice creams in the traditional western setting. It is however extremely creamy as the locals here prefer creaminess over sweetness, which explains the thick cream surrounding the entire top layer. Hidden below are bread toasts that are surprisingly extremely good when eaten together with cream and ice cream. Usually, I eat my toasts the western way…spread with butter, jam, chocolate or even solo at times.
Next in the box series is the Mangoes and Peaches Prince. The name seems weird but I tried translating the names as accurately as possible as most of the Chinese desserts do not have English names or if translated, would require changing some words that is not already accurate with the original name.
To make this name sound less weird, the locals here possess a certain level of fondness towards words that signifies wealth and status. It is not uncommon to see names of people, places and even food to possess a name with the Chinese character for “king”, “gold”, “luck” or anything related. Going back to our prince, how does it stand out from its box toast contemporaries?
Visual: Reminds me of summer happiness like there is nothing better to do than hang out outside and enjoy the bright bright weather blessed to us by the Heavenly Creator. Everything is at its best from the food to the weather and it is the perfect day for the great outdoors.
Taste: I just love peaches and cream. There is just something with this combination that I find sexy and cute. Plus the fact that the peaches are sliced into roundish balls, made it more appealing. The mulberries seem weird at first for us who grew up with western desserts as this fruit is seldom used; but it apparently is a good neutralizer to cleanse your taste buds of the sweetness and creaminess of the treat. A little disappointed with the mango though not just because there were no real mangoes present but also the mango flavored ice cream is just lacking in flavor. It has the qualities of an ice cream: cold, creamy but it lacks the taste of mango and the lack of sweetness further highlighted its lack of taste. I am just not sure if this is a cultural thing when it comes to their mango ice creams in general or if the ice cream is just really bad. Now that I recalled, a local Chinese friend of mine who has been to my country where mangoes, bananas and jackfruits are of the best of the best, mentioned that their mangoes do pale in comparison. I guess that partly explains the poor taste of their mango-flavored foods.
Box Toast # 3: Cookie Wafer
Visual: Though not as visually appealing as its fruit siblings, it has its own unique fan base. For those of you who are fond of cookies, then this is the toast for you. Oreo, I must say, is one of those brands that have successfully penetrated the Chinese market. You can see different Oreo flavors from green tea, to strawberries to cheesecakes even. It is similar to Starbucks that has successfully instilled a culture of coffee to a nation of tea drinkers, with Oreo being able to instill cookies as an option to just plain biscuits. They eat their biscuits and even bread with no filling most of the time so Oreo managed to be one of those brands who like Starbucks introduced a whole different lifestyle. So even if it is not visible in the photo, the two round cookies piled on the right are Oreos and even the two wafers that resemble wooden logs are also by Oreo. As mentioned in the previous posts, you will seldom encounter a chocolate product that is chocolaty from outside to inside; usually only the outside is chocolate and the inside is either a biscuit or some sticky substance. It is thus, no surprise why Oreo developed this wafer product just for this market.
Taste: If you are looking for a chocolate fix, this is enough but to put things into perspective, do not expect fully rich chocolate for each bite. Save that thought when you go back to your country where the more chocolate presence, the better. Here, just a taste of chocolate is enough for the local taste buds and too much of that like in our pralines, just does not sit well with them.
The advantage of each chocolate tasting component, not being overpowering is that it gives equal opportunity for all of the parts to be tasted for what it really is. You can taste the wafer, the cookies, the ice cream and cocoa cream at its core element. Eat all of these with the bread toasts inside, is very rewarding to the taste buds.
Box Toast # 4: Fairy Tale
Visual: Welcome to the land of Fairy Tales. Best to have your kids or younger cousins come along with you and share this cute piece of toast. Parents in China are overly doting of their kids to the point that Children’s Day is more important than Father’s or Mother’s Day. No joke and no wonder why Fantoast developed this toast exclusively to attract children. See those eyes? Peek-a-boo! Those chocolate swirls remind me of Alice in Wonderland. Together, they give a circus vibe.
What I find admirable about this is even if it is meant to be eaten by children, the makers did not remove the health factor. Most of its colors are derived from placing fruits and almonds and not from sugar coloring that are loaded with preservatives as is very prominent in most Western desserts. We can learn a thing or two from the Orient on how they decorate their sweet treats by making use of more natural products, instead of just sticking to food coloring all the time.
Taste: Still yummy but once you have tried the first three, you more or less know how the other tastes like. That is the downside with most Chinese cuisines and desserts; they cannot accept a totally different flavor from what they are used to --- it still has to resemble something they are familiar of. It is quite telling what the fruits will taste like, how the chocolate ice cream is creamy and not too chocolate-y and how the cocoa cream is just cream with a little bit of chocolate taste.
Final Box: Coffee Toast
Visual: Wonder why it is called as such? I don’t see anything particularly resembling coffee; but perhaps in the taste? Topped with the usual fruits, ice cream, white cream and chocolate blades, I cannot help but look at the menu once again and made sure that I understood the Chinese word of coffee “咖啡” correctly.
Taste: Mystery solved. The ice cream is coffee. Does not look like coffee flavor at all. It resembles a vanilla flavored ice cream drizzled with chocolate syrup; but I guess different land, different ways of preparing food. Taste is good but not unique and the taste is quite expected already especially since this is already my 5th visit.
To cap the box series, I learned that bread toasts is extremely yummy when paired with ice cream and cream. I mean who would have thought? The toasts are surrounded by creamy goodness regardless of whichever you order, making it a perfect match with the fruits and ice cream.
The downside though is there is no unique factor separating all of them saved for the design and the flavor in which they only alter an ingredient or two. The box crust itself is similar to all: it is edible yes, but not recommended to be eaten as it is quite dry even if you dipped it in the cream, it just does not have the same crispiness as the bread toasts that it houses. Not surprising as this reminds me of those bread soups wherein no one usually eats the bread that houses the soup, as it is already dried up and designed to be hard for it not to break under the thick texture of the broth.
The upside is the toasts are good and it is something you would really consider going back. It is an ideal place to hang out given its bright ambiance and fantastically designed toasts that never fails to make you feel at a loss whenever choosing from their menu. I deemed this place as the marriage of breads and creams.
You think that is all? Stay tune for this Fantoast has more in store for us. Next one is the Triangle and the Rectangle Series.
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